Between the Covers

Sometimes time moves way too fast compared to how slow it's moving. I'm very happy that I'm only dealing with self-imposed deadlines at this point, because I've been missing them all.

I had planned on having the Devil's Jukebox ready to go on May 1st.
It's already about a week later.

The good news is that the book cover is done, and I'm so very pleased with it. Thanks to Sam Soto Design.
The problem is that there's work to be done (as in day job), and there's a couple of technical issues with the cover specs. First the file was too large, then the file was off a couple of minute millimetres. We're working on it. That's the hard part. So close - so far. Every change is a day's delay.

Part of me, the young Leo wanting to get out and roar, is just wanting to say "who cares-it's good enough-let's go!" The other part of me, the quiet patient part (who is showing unusual strength), is saying "just wait-you've waited years-a few more days won't hurt. let's just make this look as perfect as we can."

So now I'm shooting for June 1st.

Let's do this thing. 

poetry happens...

and i made some happen just recently.

a small chapbook of poetry - more for me to get a feel of the self-publishing process than to sell hundreds of copies...
poetry is a hard sell.

But - it is here, and available, and ready for readers.
The Typewriter Keeps Me Awake At Night.
you can find it on Amazon, or Createspace.

I'm hoping to create maybe two more of these little word books by the end of the year, and then compile them all next year... maybe...

depends on what's happening on the fiction side of my world -

The Jukebox will be playing soon, but until then - feel free to enjoy the typewriter.

-M

Spring Ahead

Peeking out from under the cover of minute grammatical revisions, and I see it's almost time...

The first proof of The Devil's Jukebox is in my hands... or; in my wife's hands... and I'm revising the book cover art - hopefully with the help of a talented friend... more on this as it develops - but either way, I think I'm on track for an official publication date of May 1st, 2014. I kind of want to hit April 1st, but I think that might be pushing it.

So I've been moving ahead on the pre-publication press.. to no avail. Self-published books still hold a slight stigmata when it comes to getting advance reviews or author's blurbs. I totally understand, but it's a little frustrating.

Still, this is the path I chose. It's done.
I can always add reviews and good-words-said-about-the-book-by-famous-people to the "2nd Edition".

My plan, at the moment, is to just get this out there, have a nice little book party, send some copies to some folks, and then start pushing myself to complete novels 2, 3, and 4...

Maybe one of those will get some official publishing thing done to it. Especially if people get all happy about reading book 1. If you do read it, and like it, feel free to throw a review somewhere where people can see it. If you hate it, you can still review it, but I'll probably be not as appreciative. Unless it's a really constructive "I hate this book because..." sorta thing. Those can be good too.

Book 2, I think, is about a band on tour. With some dead things.... not zombies, but perhaps a couple of demons, and definitely ghosts. Not Scooby-Doo ghosts, but dead people ghosts. maybe vengeful spirits. Definitely a band, driving, music, and some frustrated romancing. Maybe with the dead things. This is going to be completed from the 50,000 word thing i wrote for NaNoWriMo last November.

Book 3 is about halfway done, so this might become book 2... we'll see. This one has dead things, possibly a vampire creature, and a lot of alcohol. I don't want to say much more about it, but it was inspired by a trip I took back home to Vancouver.

Book 4 is only in my head at this point, but I like the idea of it. Might be a little on the YA side, if I can keep my cigarette and cocktail references to a minimum...  all I know for sure is that it if all goes well it'll be described as a Hawaiian Gothic. Maybe I'll skip the YA and go straight for the Tiki Bar.

More soon!

Updating For A New Year

Here we are in the 2014.
The Devil's Jukebox is still floating around unpublished - maybe i need to wait for another book. After novel 2 or 3, maybe i can get #1 out there.

So - that's what i've been doing.... not sure which one will be #2 or #3, but i'm halfway (maybe) through one, and working on cleaning up and restructuring another.

one i've been working on since i finished The Devil's Jukebox, the other i wrote in one month - for NaNoWriMo 2014.

I did it - 50,000 words in one month - and it almost makes sense.
Draft Zero of a novel to be. Currently titled "Sometimes Always" - but that may be changing....

The First Rejection

it's official - i am now a rejected author. not dejected... yet. i know that most of my submissions will be rejected without any notice - if i don't hear back in 4 weeks it's a no thank you. but - i actually got a polite decline. It's all part of it, right?

Dear Author,

Many thanks for your email regarding your manuscript, which I am declining with my regrets.

Given the demands of running a boutique agency and continuing to best represent our current clients, we must make difficult decisions every day regarding what new projects we can sign.  I appreciate your thinking of "this agency", and wish you the best of luck in your search for representation.

Best,

In The Beginning

It's been a long time coming, and now it's done.

Pushing together and tearing apart words and ideas for the past couple of decades, not sure what would happen with them, but knowing that something would happen.

Too many poems to mention, too many little paragraphs and stories edited down into oblivion.

Life and love and travel and work slipping in all the time. Everything is distraction, and there is fear in completion.

But now, it's done.

Step one, at any rate. 

Step one: Write A Novel.

okay, got it.

The Devil's Jukebox.
79,000 words.

Step two.... well, working on that one right now.
Publish that Novel.

it's January, 2013. Let's make this the year of the Devil's Jukebox.

-xo-
  Marcel